Living in Babylon (Not finished)

Babylon was a beautiful city. It built on the side of, on top of and beneath the mountains. It had begun as a single fort, built up layer by layer over the many long years. It was like a massive apartment complex, only the balconies and hallways were city parks and highways.


Babylon was once a mining settlement. It had many levels, most of them abandoned now, beneath the surface. It also had many levels built not on the ground at all, but supported by earlier layers. In some places, the higher level had a small “lip”, where houses jutted out into the air, with nothing beneath their floors.


Not for the weak of heart. Nor for the rich, these houses as a rule were small and cramped. But, Ash Book thought to herself, the rich and the fearful were missing out.


The young woman of fourteen sat in a window frame, one leg dangling out and one hand holding her bowl of cold cereal. She looked out at the World.


Ash could see the roofs of many houses below. She could see tall towers and roughly paved roads, tiny gardens and big shops, all bathed in the golden light of dawn. And beyond all this... the horizon.


Ash sighed.


She swung her leg back inside and dropped to the floor, careful not to spill any of her breakfast. She started wolfing it down as she quietly closed the window, then carefully tiptoed to the kitchen.


The kitchen was also the entry to the Book’s small home. The room Ash had just left was technically her mother’s, but was usually free for Ash to use, as Rift Book did not need a bed.


Ash looked fondly at the family portrait on the kitchen counter. She was already taller than her mother, who had fiery red hair the same color as Ash’s skin, and a smile even brighter than that. Ash hoped she would be back soon.


The front door was directly across from Rift’s room. Facing it, the storage space that was now Ash’s was too the left. Loud snoring could still be heard too the right, her father’s room. And… that was about it for the Book’s home. Save the washroom, of course.


Ash let her father sleep. Mathias Book was one of the premiere Magi in the City, a job that kept him up late. He was also married to Rift, which kept him up later. She washed her bowl, quickly fixed Mathias a sandwich and ducked into her room.


Like most of the Book’s home, her room was full of the artifacts, relics and trinkets her parent’s had collected in their travels. The only person Ash knew who had traveled more than Rift was Mathias, and both had brought back countless souvenirs.


Ash didn’t mind how much space they took up. She had stayed up late more than once, examining each in turn and wondering what it was. Where it came from. Whether it was scrap or real treasure. Which ones were radioactive…





Shuffling past stacks of cardboard boxes, stepping over ornate figurines, ignoring the rug that whispered secrets about hummingbirds, Ash made it to her bed.